The above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,450 describes thin-film micro-electrochemical storage cells, such as microbatteries and double-layer capacitors. These cells are produced by depositing thin film electrode and solid electrolyte layers on a substrate that has a plurality of cavities etched therethrough with high aspect ratio (i.e., a high ratio of cavity depth to width). As a result of this design, the cells have a high total electrode area per unit volume, and thus high electrical capacity.
A microchannel plate (MCP) is a two-dimensional array of tubes of very-small diameter (commonly referred to as capillaries, or channels), which are fused together and sliced to form a thin plate. A typical MCP has several million independent channels. MCPs are widely used in detection of low-level radiation and electron signals, wherein each of the channels works as an independent electron multiplier. MCPs are commercially available from a number of different sources, such as Del Mar Ventures (San Diego, Calif.) and Burle Electro-Optics, Inc. (Sturbridge, Mass.).
MCPs are most commonly made from glass. The manufacturing process is described, for example, in an article entitled “Microchannel Plates and Microchannel Plate Detectors,” published by Del Mar Ventures (available at www.sciner.com/MCP/MCP.htm, 2004), which is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the MCP begins as a glass tube fitted with a solid, acid-etchable core, which is drawn by fiberoptic techniques to form single fibers. A number of these fibers are stacked in an array, and the entire assembly is drawn again to form multi-fibers. The multi-fibers are then stacked together and fused at high temperature to form a boule. The boule is sliced on a wafer saw, edged to size, and then ground and polished as necessary. The individual slices are chemically processed to remove the solid core material, leaving a “honeycomb” structure of millions of tiny holes.
Other methods for MCP production are also known in the art. Some of these methods may be used to produce very fine MCP structures, as well as producing MCPs in materials other than glass. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,709 describes methods for making MCPs having micron and submicron apertures. U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,388 describes a method of making multi-channel waveguide structures using a combination of extruding and drawing techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,714 describes a method for potting or casting hollow fiber bundles together to form a tube sheet. This method may be used to form MCPs from various materials, such as carbon fibers. The disclosures of all of the above-mentioned patents are incorporated herein by reference.